Posted June 06, 2013 by RentJungle

Marcus and Millichap's statistics for the nation's top apartment markets show average rent increase of 3.0 percent in the fourth quarter over the same period a year ago. Apartment vacancies continued to decline, by 20 basis points. But apartment completions are up by 30 percent compared to a year ago.

According to CoStar/PPR tracking of investment sales, $25.09 billion worth of multifamily assets traded hands in the fourth quarter, compared to the fourth quarter of 2011. The weighted price per unit was $115,954 in the fourth quarter, substantially up from $86,789 per unit in the fourth quarter of 2011.

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reported that housing starts for buildings with five or more apartment units plunged by 26 percent during January 2013, falling to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 260,000. Despite the large decline in January, starts exceed the level of starts averaged over the last six months of 2012, NAHB stated.

Meanwhile, the rate at which new five-plus permits were issued remained relatively stable in January, increasing 1 percent to 311,000 units. This represents the third straight month the five-plus permit rate has exceeded 300,000, said NAHB.

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